Holiday

The company doctor sees my treatment process as a full-time job. That feels a bit crazy, but it turns out to be true: the many hospital visits and the hassle around it keeps me busy. Although I did not send a letter of application with CV, when the results of the scans became known, we immediately agreed: I was instantly accepted as a patient. The problem is that I don’t like this job at all. All the more reason, after three quarters of a year of non-stop hard work, to start talking about one of the fringe benefits: holidays!

I have fond memories of holidays. My love and I were a good holiday team. In the early years of our marriage, we still had to learn each other’s basic rules. It turned out to be very important for a pleasant time with love that he got food and drink on time and that there were enough licorice. Black, because those are the real ones. In order to keep up with me for a long time, the humidity should not be too high and we would do well to build in a moment of rest every now and then to read. Once we got the hang of these ground rules, it was a blast. Love arranged an old barrel with two or four wheels, screwed on his toolbox and bought a telephone card so that we could call the local roadside assistance when needed. I took care of the fun routes, lists of sights and places to stay. Once on the road, we usually decided to largely deviate from this and left the route for the beautiful discoveries we made along the way or the necessary visits to foreign garage companies.

Since his death, I had to reinvent the holiday. In addition, I discovered that the best leisure activity at the moment seems to me… to be able to work again! I suddenly realized how much I missed that: spending days delving into fascinating assignments and collaborating with others to my heart’s content.

The radiation oncologist was immediately open to my wish. He let me choose when I wanted to undergo the next radiation course. I opted for two weeks because I did not dare to postpone the chemotherapy for longer. It is a dangerous disease. He added that he knew from experience how wise it is to plan a two-week break. And also that the skin damage will increase for another week and then start to heal again. I am now halfway through my first ‘holiday week’. I soon found out that I really needed the enormous plasters that the hospital gave me. In the mornings I feel paralyzed by a severe headache and the rest of the day I am quickly tired.

Obviously, being a ‘cancer patient in the midst of treatments’ isn’t even a full-time job; you are a patient 24/7. Without holidays. And because it has to go on like this for quite a while longer, I decided to set aside some holiday money with which I just ordered nice holiday books and a present for my garden.